Rendering of new elevation proposed for 5 Points Wendy’s shows the new “blade” as well as monument sign and knee wall along Park Street.

An application was filed for re-zoning of the property where the Wendy’s in 5 Points is located. In addition, a new design was submitted to Riverside Avondale Preservation.

Steve Diebenow, attorney for property owners Frederick and Daniel Bowen, filed a request in early January to change the zoning from Commercial Community/General (CCG-1) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to facilitate the building of a new Wendy’s restaurant.

In a Nov. 10, 2016 meeting with a representative from Wendy’s, concerned residents requested that an administrative deviation be filed instead, arguing that a PUD was unnecessary. A PUD will allow changes to the property that might otherwise be considered non-conforming to current zoning.

The current building, erected in 1974, will be razed, and the new structure will conform to the current footprint, which includes a drive-thru. The application’s written description, revised Jan. 9, 2017, indicates that while the design will follow the new Wendy’s branding, it will be a “modern urban design that is more in harmony with the 5 Points area.”

Following several meetings in which members of the Riverside community expressed concerns about the “modern” design proposed for a historic neighborhood, architects from the Wendy’s Corporation submitted designs for a slightly revised look.

One of the concessions on the part of Wendy’s was to change the large red “blade” – a vertical panel on which the name and logo is placed – to a shorter wood blade. However, the externally lighted monument sign designed for the corner of Park and Margaret Streets is indicated to be 10 feet in height, twice the height indicated in the original description.

The applicant is asking for relief from eight current Zoning Code landscaping guidelines, among them landscape buffers between vehicle use areas along both Park and Margaret Streets and between the Wendy’s property and adjacent properties, as well as a reduction in the number of trees required along property boundaries.

The request for relief in landscaping was justified by the applicant’s proposal to include new terminal island landscaping in the parking lot, a sawtooth parking design for additional landscaping, and a knee wall on the Park Street perimeter of the property to increase pedestrian safety.

City Council will hear the proposed bill, 2016-674, on Feb. 28 and vote on March 14. A public hearing by the Land Use and Zoning Committee for the bill is currently scheduled for March 7.